Twins Minor League Report (5/1): No-Hitter In Cedar Rapids Upstages Gonsalves Performance

To find out what exactly happened in those games and how all the rest of your favorite Twins prospects fared on Tuesday night, keep reading!

TRANSACTIONS

There were several moves in the Minnesota Twins system on Tuesday:

The Twins selected the contract of IF Gregorio Petit from Rochester. In the corresponding move IF Sean Miller was promoted to AA from Chattanooga. To get the Red Wings roster filled they also added catcher Winston Sawyer from the Lookouts while placing first baseman Brock Stassi on the temporary inactive list.

To take one of the roster spots in Chattanooga IF Alex Perez was promoted from Fort Myers. To take his place on the Miracle roster IF Carson Crites was moved up from Cedar Rapids and they also received reliever Kevin Marnon who would debut for the Miracle on Tuesday night.

RED WINGS REPORT

Rochester 2, Pawtucket 0

Box Score

The Rochester offense scored two runs in the top of the fifth thanks to the bat of Kennys Vargas, who clubbed his third home run of the season to give them the lead. That was all the lineup would need to produce as a top pitching prospect making his 2018 Triple-A debut turned in the second longest start of his MiLB career.

Left-hander Stephen Gonsalves was that starter, and he was lights out against the Red Sox. In 7 2/3 innings he allowed just one walk and one hit while adding five strikeouts. Going into the eighth inning, Gonsalves had faced the minimum thanks to a double-play ball in the second inning, and had retired sixteen in a row. In that eighth inning, he walked the leadoff man but would get two outs, including a K to his final hitter, before being replaced by Alan Busenitz. Gonsalves threw 92 pitches on the game, with 55 of them going for strikes (including eight swinging strikes). Now with five starts in AAA on his resume, he has gone six plus innings in four of those while allowing only four runs. He did have a couple of outings last year that blew up his small-sample AAA stat line, but there’s a lot to like in all his other outings at the final rung on the ladder to the bigs.

Busenitz finished the final 1 1/3 innings to pick up his first save of the season with Rochester. He allowed two hits and got all three outs via K's in the ninth.

The Red Wings got multiple hit efforts from Jake Cave (2-4, 2 2B, RBI) and Jermaine Curtis (2-4) to give Gonsalves his fourth win of the season.

CHATTANOOGA CHATTER

Scheduled day off.

The Lookouts had the day off on Tuesday as they traveled from Tennessee to Alabama. They begin a five-game series with the Mobile BayBears on Wednesday with lefty Lewis Thorpe on the mound looking for his first win of the 2018 season.

MIRACLE MATTERS

Fort Myers 1, Tampa 2

Box Score

Fort Myers also got a strong effort from their starting pitcher, but the hitters weren’t able to get much going to back it.

Anthony Marzi was that starter in this one, and he delivered a quality start. In his six innings, he scattered four hits and a walk while striking out five. He allowed two runs (one earned) on 92 pitches (64 for strikes). He left the game down 2-0 and in line for the loss.

The Miracle got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh inning when Travis Blankenhorn bombed his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. The rest of the lineup added just three singles and one walk while going 0-3 with runners in scoring position and leaving six men on base.

Ryan Mason pitched a scoreless seventh inning thanks in part to a Jimmy Kerrigan assist to cut down a runner at home. Mason gave up two hits in the inning. Fresh off his promotion to Fort Myers, Kevin Marnon added a scoreless eighth inning to finish the game. He allowed two singles and struck out one in his Florida State League debut.

KERNELS NUGGETS

South Bend 0, Cedar Rapids 10

Box Score

Unlike their higher-level cohorts, the Kernels had no problem with offense on Tuesday. As a team they racked up sixteen hits and used a big inning to take complete control against the Cubs. They really didn’t need that output either however, as two pitchers combined to toss the Kernels first no-hitter since the 2013 season.

Their lineup scored single runs in the second and third innings thanks to solo home runs from Jean Carlos Arias and Akil Baddoo. It was the first one the year for Arias, and second for Badoo Cedar Rapids then put the game out of reach in the fourth as they sent eleven men to the plate and scored seven of them to go ahead 9-0.

That big inning got going after one-out singles from David Banuelos and Trey Cabbage who trotted home on Ben Rodriguez’s second home run of the year. Singles from top prospects Baddoo, Royce Lewis, and Alex Kirilloff followed that blast, and Arias added an RBI single before Andrew Bechtold’s second double of the season cleared the bases to account for the crooked number. They tacked on another run in the eighth as a Kirilloff double brought in Baddoo who had reached with another single.

Baddoo, Lewis and Cabbage all notched three hits on the game. Kirilloff and Arias added two hits apiece while Bechtold and Rodriguez each drove in three runs. As a team they were 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position while leaving only six men on base.

Starter Edwar Colina was again effectively wild in this one as, despite allowing five walks in his six innings, he obviously didn’t allow a hit or run and struck out two. In picking up his second win of the year he lowered his ERA to 0.60 in 21 innings with the Kernels. He was replaced in the seventh inning with left-hander Jovani Moran who finished off the no-hitter by picking up a three-inning save, his first of the year. He walked one and struck out one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGWhzPURcpw&feature=youtu.be

Colina and Moran combined to throw 131 pitches on the game, with 79 of them going for strikes. The no-hitter was quite an accomplishment for the defense as 24 of the 27 outs on the game were made in the field. The game started with an error on shortstop Royce Lewis and another error on second baseman Jose Miranda in the third inning put a runner on third base, but they caught him at home on a double-steal play for the innings second out before Colina would later escape that jam with the bases loaded. South Bend wouldn’t threaten again as they went 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

Congratulations to Colina, Moran, and the Kernels on the fantastic effort!

STARS OF THE DAY

Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day – Edwar Colina/Jovani Moran, Cedar Rapids Kernels (Combined no-hitter, 9.0 IP, 6 BB, 3 K’s)

Too good to not give honorable mention: Stephen Gonsalves, Rochester Red Wings (W, 7.2 IP, H, BB, 5 K’s)

Twins Daily Hitter of the Day – Akil Baddoo, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-5, 3 R, HR, RBI)

TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY

1. Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) – 3-5, R

4. Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) – W (1-0), 7.2 IP, H, BB, 5 K’s

5. Alex Kirilloff (Cedar Rapids) – 2-5, R, 2B (6), RBI

10. Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) – 3-5, 3 R, HR (2), RBI

13. Lewin Diaz (Fort Myers) – 1-4, K

15. Mitch Garver (Minnesota) – 0-4, 2 K’s

17. Travis Blankenhorn (Fort Myers) – 1-4, R, HR (5), RBI

WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS

Rochester @ Pawtucket (11:05PM CST) – RHP Myles Jaye (0-1, 6.59 ERA)

Chattanooga @ Mobile (6:35PM CST) – LHP Lewis Thorpe (0-3, 5.30 ERA)

Fort Myers @ Tampa (5:30PM CST) – RHP Tyler Wells (2-1, 3.63 ERA)

South Bend @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST) – LHP Tyler Watson (1-1, 3.00 ERA)

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Tuesday’s games!

Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!